Hurlbuthomes.com Blog

So last night my wife and I were sitting down in front of the TV and the news happened to be on. The story coming up was a look at the local real estate market. My ears perked up and I wanted to know what they thought. So I made my wife sit there and listen to what they had to say. Now mind you, this was touted as a look at the LOCAL real estate market.

The blurb, and it probably wasn't more than a minute, started off by saying that inventories around the country are rising. (True) That prices have fallen in places like Detroit, San Diego and others. (Also True) It continued on this rant for about 45 seconds. The very last blurb in the story was "Real Estate prices have continued to climb in the puget sound region".

So a 60 second "Look at the local real estate market" was about 55 seconds of national gloom and doom and 5 seconds of "Oh yeah, we're still seeing prices rise here" now back to you . . .

Sometimes it's tough to find that needle in a haystack . . .

I love the media!

An interesting shift this past month. For the first time that I can remember, the average sales price in King county was lower this year than it was last year. However, the average sales price in Pierce, Thurston and Snohomish counties continued to rise despite increased inventory. Total closed transactions are still off from last year, but this is still shaping up to be the 3rd or 4th BEST year in Real Estate in HISTORY!

	Total Active Residential Listings		Average Time On Market		Average Sales Price
County	07/06	07/07	07/06	07/07	07/06	07/07
Pierce	5,508	7,746	69	91	$325,000	$328,000
King	6,909	9,947	60	69	$519,990	$500,000
Thurston	1,877	2,306	68	86	$295,000	$299,925
Snohomish	3,658	5,532	60	75	$418,725	$418,233
	Total Closed		Total Closed YTD
County	07/06	07/07	07/06	07/07	% Change YTD
Pierce	1,286	1,0251	8,745	6,982	-20%
King	2,653	2,501	16,267	15,259	-8%
Thurston	452	387	2,764	2,399	-13%
Snohomish	1,275	1,000	8,212	6,707	-18%
Data Courtesy of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS)

Looks like the Blue Angels will be performing the "Low Show" this afternoon. According to Q13 Fox news this morning, the Blue Angels need a ceiling height of at least 3,500 feet to do a low show and at least 7,000 feet to do their high show. We have a cloud cover at 3,700 feet today, so it looks like the low show folks!

No matter what show they perform, you can guarantee it will be spectacular and amazing! It always is!

Be aware, should you venture out and about around Seattle this weekend, there will be closures of the I-90 floating bridge during the air show. So plan accordingly.

For all the events and schedule, head on over to the official Seafair site. Have a GREAT weekend!

After dropping off some flyers for my listing at 3401 Wallingford Avenue Wednesday evening, the lovely and talented Teri and I were in search of some dinner. Having worked in Fremont previously, I knew this would be a good area to find some food. We definitely were not disappointed! I had heard of a "new" (New to me anyway) restaurant on the radio that morning in Fremont that sounded yummy. The Asteroid Cafe, the radio ad mentioned, was an Italian Restaurant that uses all organic and fresh ingredients in their food preparation.

Now Italian, Organic, and Fresh are three of my favorite things, so I had to try it! I drug Teri along with me. Parking was easy along Fremont Avenue (this is not always the case, so prepare for the garage below Dad Watsons) and we were seated promptly upon entering. If I could make one MINOR complaint (and it really IS minor) it would be that service after that was a touch slow for my tastes. Now I was REALLY hungry by that point, so I may have just been more sensitive to it than usual.

Teri and I both ordered a lemon drop type of drink. As it was nearly 80 degrees and we were sitting outside on the patio, it seemed the right thing to do. Our server brought us out a mini appetizer which we greedily chomped down. If it was an indication of things to come (it was) we were going to be quite happy. After taking our order, our server brought out some fresh bread with the requisite olive oil. Both were fantastic.

Teri ordered an heirloom tomato salad with mozarella and I had a spinach walnut salad. The spinach was among the freshest I'd ever had in a salad, and it wouldn't have surprised me at all if the waiter had told me he had picked the spinach himself! I ordered the Rigatoni in a tomato cream sauce with Itialian sausage, and Teri had a penne dish of some sort. Both arrived shortly after we were done with our salads and all I can say is WOW! Very hearty portions and the flavor was incredible! The rigatoni definitely seemed like it was made fresh that day and the sauce was to die for. The sausage had a wonderful flavor as well.

Teri was smart and saved half her dinner for lunch the next day, which made room for dessert. She had the tiramisu and by all accounts it was very good.

The dinner was maybe a bit on the pricey side, but we did have a few cocktails, salads and a dessert. But overall, dining at the Asteroid cafe was PHENOMENAL! I only wish we had discovered it sooner! I would have liked to have seen their prior location on 45th and Wallingford, but this is really a great addition to Fremont!

Asteroid Cafe
3601 Fremont Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
Phone: (206) 547-9000
http://www.asteroidcafe.com/